If you have a cat who loves to drink water out of a faucet or sink, or even those little droplets left in the bath once you’re all done a shower, chances are you’ve thought about trying a pet fountain to see if your furry would get his or her drink on more often if running water via a fountain was accessible 24/7.
If you have a cat who doesn’t drink enough water, and you’ve been itching to find a way to encourage him or her to take a sip more often, this is also a plenty good reason to be considering a cat water fountain. They’re touted by cat and dog owners alike, and typically pet fountains are the same sizes for small and medium dogs and cats – so in multi-pet households that have both, you’ll probably end up with a household full of pets who take to drinking more often, which leads us to ceramic pet fountains in particular…
Corelle Livingware 28 Ounce Super Soup Cereal Bowl – Amazon / eBay
I’ve heard a lot about the benefits of ceramic for food and water bowls when it comes to cats and for pets in general. Some cats I’ve heard have allergies to certain kinds of plastics, but even if your pets don’t, word around the block is there may be issues with plastics in the long-term when it comes to holding onto germs and/or bacteria. To be honest, I haven’t looked into whether or not this happens to be the case if pet parents take the time to really scrub away at plastics. I would guess it’s fine to use plastics for pet food and water if they’re thoroughly cleaned regularly, as we often do with human food – for tupperware, for outdoor plates, even children’s dishware and cups to prevent breakage if they fall over. Still, no one could possibly argue against ceramic when it comes to ease-of-keeping clean. It’s far easier to wash in my experience than nearly any other material for plates and bowls.
The exception? Tempered glass products like the Corelle dishware sets my grandmother pulled out to use for every meal when we swung by her apartment when I was little. I bought a couple sets of these recently, remembering how lightweight and amazing they were, and can honestly say I couldn’t be more pleased with how easy they are to wash. They cost 2-3x the price here in Europe as they do in the States, but they’re still so worth it. I even grabbed a set of three 28 ounce soup bowls to place out for my kitties as a water bowl, and use the 18 ounce bowls that came with the set I bought to feed them kibble-mixed-with-water breakfast and dinner.
I honestly love tempered glass for pet bowls, but ceramic is 100% a close second – porcelain ceramic if I get the choice, though I would take any ceramic over all other options. Ceramics in general are all quite easy to clean, and I feel like while stainless steel is also great, and regularly used for both food and water dishes for cats, I’m not a fan of eating or drinking out of it myself, so I wouldn’t grab a metal water fountain or dish for that reason. I think it imparts a sort of metallic taste to things? Not too bad, however, though to be honest I also like the heft of ceramic, making it easier to keep fountains and bowls in place when kitties are eating and drinking. My cats seem to push their food bowls quite a bit if they’re not heavy, which is alright, still the heft comes in handy.
Anyway, to each his own and if you’re here, my guess is it’s because you prefer ceramic over other materials for cat food & water bowls, too. Let me know in the comments if you do have this preference, and if so, why you prefer ceramic and what alternatives you would also be happy to grab. I would also love to know if your cat is currently struggling with or has ever struggled with blackheads/cat acne under his or her chin, and if switching to ceramic helped remedy this. My cats have both had feline acne at one point or another, and I found giving them water twice a day with their meals helped a lot, as then they’d have breaks from watery chins, as they’d drink less frequently throughout the day (though more quantity-wise in the span of the day) as a result.
Okay, let’s dive into the ceramic cat water fountains!
Automatic Ceramic Pet Water Fountains Ideal for Cats
1. PetSafe Drinkwell Pagoda Dog and Cat Water Fountain, Automatic Ceramic Drinking Fountain for Pets
This is hands down the most popular ceramic pet water fountain on the block, and is supposed to be good for pets of all sizes – large and small dogs and kittens and adult cats all included. I think the biggest qualm people have with it is the fact that it is quite loud out-of-box, but there have been a lot of pet parents coming up with DIY solutions to fix that issue, from adding two ceramic saucers to adding river rocks or aquarium rocks for noise reduction.
As a head up, a lot of people seem to have trouble with specific issues upon the first few weeks of arrival. If you do, contact support, they seem to be doing a good job patching things up. One example being this originally displeased reviewer: “UPDATE – I called the company and they helped me troubleshoot and it was an issue with the actual filter and filaments in the filter getting stuck together. I shook it up a few times and the fountain is as good as new. She said I am not the only one with this problem and they are actively working to make the filters better.”
2. Pioneer Pet Raindrop Ceramic Drinking Fountain
Another incredibly popular option, and one that many pet parents seem to love considering how many options it comes in – stainless steel, white ceramic, and black ceramic. There are arguments to be made for getting a white ceramic pet fountain, as it’s hefty and won’t move like stainless steel sometimes will, and it’s light in colour making it easy to tell if water is dirty or if there’s something like kibble that’s dropped inside. If you’re diligent and have a schedule for cleaning it out, however, it shouldn’t matter really, but it could come in handy to grab one that’s light in colour.
In case you’d like a firsthand review, this one here is excellent – though be forewarned, it’s quite lengthy!
3. PetSafe Drinkwell Avalon Pet Water Fountain, Ceramic Drinking Fountain for Cats and Dogs
To my knowledge, there isn’t really much, if any, difference between the Avalon water fountain and the Pagoda pet fountain by PetSafe – besides the shape being round on the Avalon and square on the Pagoda, that is. These two both have issues with being quite noisy, though I found a reviewer that mentioned a simple and easy hack for quieting the loud noise – check it out.
4. Pioneer Pet Big Max Extra Large (XL) Ceramic Drinking Fountain
If you like the look of the Pioneer Pet Raindrop, and really the majority of ceramic water fountains for pets, but would rather grab the biggest option you can buy, you may want to try the Pioneer Pet Big Max. I’d imagine it’s probably the most surefire option if you’ve got a household with a lot of pets, have a big dog who needs to drink a lot as well as cats, or would like your water fountain to continue running without needing a top up for a longer period of time, such as when you’re on an extended trip or vacation and don’t want to ask the pet sitter to need to refill all that frequently. It’s a great product, and in my opinion, a lot better than having two smaller fountains for most pet parents, especially since that cuts down on maintenance. Also comes in stainless steel, if you’d prefer.
5. John Timberland Organic Water Lily Indoor Table-Top Water Cascading
To my knowledge, this decorative table-top indoor water fountain isn’t supposed to be a pet fountain at all, but so many cat owners have purchased this thing as a prettier alternative to pet fountains and found their cats loving it, it’s hard not to recommend it as they have.
6. IPETTIE Tritone Ceramic Pet Drinking Fountain Ultra Quiet
If you really can’t stand the idea of having a noisy pet fountain and don’t want to take the risk DIY-ing a potential hack with one of the others in case it’s still too noisy, this IPETTIE ultra quiet pet fountain seems to be the best option. While it’s less popular in terms of number of people who own it than PetSafe or Pioneer cat fountains, this ceramic one by IPETTIE is more highly reviewed, and still does have quite a large number of pet parents vouching for it overall.
This particular fountain also comes in blue ceramic, and IPETTIE has a mini fountain, the Fiumi as well if you prefer.
7. PetSafe Drinkwell Seascape Dog Pet Fountain
In terms of water fountains for pets, most aren’t quite as unique as this Petsafe Drinkwell Seascape. Instead of a little stream that comes out of a spout, the water runs along a round center, so it’s more likely to be quiet. It also has a few different types of running water your pet might like to drink out of – the gushing part at the top, the stream that runs along the round center, and the pond like portion at the bottom. Seems quite easy to clean and there are a lot of reviewers who state it’s quite heavy, so if you have a cat who likes to topple his or her water bowl over, something like this might be ideal.
If you like the look of darker fountains, but also would prefer to be able to spot dirt and anything else (like kibble) that might get into the water, this white-on-the-inside, grey-on-the-outside fountain is a great option, too.
8. Smart Solar 21372R01 Ceramic Solar Koi Fountain
If you’re looking for a ceramic water fountain for your outdoor cat, while this particular fountain is not intended for drinking use, it seems to be used as such by quite a few felines belonging to pet parents who purchased it for their gardens. As a heads up, while it does work on solar energy, it does not have a battery and will need direct sunlight to run. So at night, and when it’s shaded or the sun goes behind a cloud, it won’t continue to run. Still, sounds like a viable option for outdoor kitties who enjoy drinking running water sometimes.
9. Bamboo Accents Zen Garden Water Fountain Spout, Indoor/Outdoor
Prefer a much more custom water fountain for your pets? This bamboo fountain spout can be used to make any bowl or container into a water fountain. The Bamboo Accents Zen Garden kit comes with a submersible pump, tubing, and bamboo fountain. A couple of pet parents, having grabbed it for themselves, have had their cats enjoy drinking from the running stream. It’s almost like a faucet that’s constantly on, where cats will stick their head under the spout to drink from. Since it’s outdoor and indoor compatible, you can use it for either indoor or outdoor cats as well.
10. Aurora Cat Water Fountain Porcelain Pet Fountain Pet Water Fountain Dog Fountain Easy to Clean Ultra Quiet
Considering this pet fountain is made of porcelain rather than typical ceramic, I’d imagine it’d be the easiest to clean and keep clean in general. It doesn’t currently have a lot of reviews in comparison to the bigger brand pet fountain alternatives, but what reviews it has are quite positive. I’d personally give them a shot considering they look quite good.
Your Thoughts on Ceramic Pet Fountains?
Have you ever bought a pet fountain for your household?
If yes, do you have a single cat, a multi-cat household, dogs and cats together? Do they all like the fountain and do they drink more out of it than they did out of bowls? Which fountain did you grab and how often do you need to refill the fountain you have?
Thinking of grabbing a pet fountain for your home? Do you prefer ceramic and if so why? Are there other materials you would consider?
Love to hear all your thoughts in the comments down below.
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